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Book Review: A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen


Title: A Taxonomy of Love

Author: Rachael Allen

Published: January 9th, 2017

Publisher: Amulet Books

Find the Author: Goodreads 


Disclosure: I was sent this book for review by the publisher. As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.


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The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it’s . . . something at first sight. He knows she’s special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of “friend” gets messier, too.


Through sibling feuds and family tragedies, new relationships and broken hearts, the two grow together and apart, and Spencer, an aspiring scientist, tries to map it all out using his trusty system of taxonomy. He wants to identify and classify their relationship, but in the end, he finds that life doesn’t always fit into easy-to-manage boxes, and it’s this messy complexity that makes life so rich and beautiful.

First Thoughts…Just the cover alone (and I know it’s so wrong to just want to read something from the cover, but hear me out) made me want to delve into this endearing little novel. The title, for one, is pretty unique. I like the idea that there’s more to the novel than meets the eye and that we’ll get to see the main character (and secondary characters) grow over the course of years. 


My Review…So first thing, can I just gush, I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY I READ THIS BOOK. It was all that I wanted and more. And I know you’re supposed to save the real, hard-hitting compliments for the end of the review, but I just couldn’t wait. It’s not just that Spencer – love-able, relatable, curious, has a dream of being a Scientist and is funny – is an amazing main character, it’s that he’s not defined by his illness. See, Spencer has Tourette syndrome. Yes, he was teased about it and that obviously hurt him a lot, but he’s an optimist. Nothing is going to keep him from seeing the brighter things in life. And also a little smitten with his new friend, Hope. She’s brilliant, sharp and oh-so-realistic. They have a connection like no other and it’s no wonder that over the years of their friendship, lives and journeys together and apart, the label of friend starts to get blurry. 

The world that Spencer and Hope share is a beautiful, yet sometimes messy one. Sometimes they drift apart, then knit together again and can easily come undone. But the main fixture is obviously clear: they are meant to be in each others lives. Through Spencer’s taxonomy system, he confides in it’s clear-cut image of fitting their relationship into a certain box. But as we grow with Spencer’s POV and Hope’s, we learn that life doesn’t always fit into a certain way or box, but that doesn’t mean it’s flawed. It’s just…life. 

I can’t gush about A Taxonomy of Love enough. It’s the first book that I’ve read in 2018 and it was a ride of happy/sad tears, rooting for the beautifully crafted characters and sticking around for an enchanting timeline of love. Overall, this book is unlike any other. I would recommend this to anyone I know. Rachael – you wrote something epic and I can’t give you enough credit. FIVE STARS!


Have you had the chance to read A Taxonomy Of Love?


What did you think?


Let me know what you thought in the comments, on Twitter or Facebook!


happy reading!

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Book Review: “The Movie Version” by Emma Wunsch

Title: The Movie Version 

Author: Emma Wunsch

Published: October 11th, 2016

Publisher: Amulet Books

Find the Author: Goodreads 


I received this book for review on my blog! As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

A whip-smart, heart-wrenching debut YA novel about first love, first loss, and filmmaking that will delight fans of Jandy Nelson and Jennifer Niven

In the movie version of Amelia’s life, the roles have always been clear. Her older brother, Toby: definitely the Star. As popular with the stoners as he is with the cheerleaders, Toby is someone you’d pay ten bucks to watch sweep Battle of the Bands and build a “beach party” in the bathroom. As for Amelia? She’s Toby Anderson’s Younger Sister. She’s perfectly happy to watch Toby’s hijinks from the sidelines, when she’s not engrossed in one of her elaborately themed Netflix movie marathons.           

 

But recently Toby’s been acting in a very non-movie-version way. He’s stopped hanging out with his horde of friends and started obsessively journaling and disappearing for days at a time. Amelia doesn’t know what’s happened to her awesome older brother, or who this strange actor is that’s taken his place. And there’s someone else pulling at her attention: a smart, cute new boyfriend who wants to know the real Amelia—not Toby’s Sidekick. Amelia feels adrift without her star, but to best help Toby—and herself—it might be time to cast a new role: Amelia Anderson, leading lady.

First Thoughts

This has been on my shelf for so long and I’m not sure why I haven’t read it yet. Maybe because of the huge stack of ARC’s that I’m slowly, but surely getting through, but either way this book just spoke to me. So I decided to dig in and see what it’s all about! 



Review

I’m always for a YA Book in the Springtime (and almost Summer!) so The Movie Version sounded like a breath of fresh air. The book starts with Amelia, our heroine, coming home from a while away over the Summer. It’s more than obvious that Amelia is a strikingly honest character from the get-go. She knows in the Movie Version of her life, her brother Toby is the shining star. He’s everything that she’s not; popular and ever-so-charming. He’s not obnoxious, either, because of his popularity with everyone – he’s a genuinely nice guy and Amelia can’t help but feel shifted from the spotlight. 

But suddenly, her bubbly brother turns into a shell of himself, changing into someone she no longer recognises as the Movie Version Toby. He’s not hanging out with the same people or acting the same way, and Amelia can’t help but try to uncover the reasons why he’s not himself, leading her to the chilling conclusion of Toby’s real feelings going on inside his mind. 

Honestly? This book just blew my expectations out of the water with the raw honesty of the mental illness topics that it covered in a very educated manner. Amelia treads carefully, knowing not much about mental illnesses, so at first she’s very confused by it, not knowing the correct way to talk or let alone deal with it. But the more that she listens to Toby, she turns a leaf, learning and understanding what it truly means to suffer from a mental illness. Despite some of the topics surrounding Amelia not knowing what to say and in parts, maybe coming across a little naive to the situation, I think Emma Wunsch is definitely an Author to watch.

Overall, The Movie Version was a hopeful, emotional and downright honest YA book that deals with subjects that so many people are afraid to speak up about. No one should ever be ashamed of Mental Illness, whether it’s anxiety, OCD, depression or anything. As someone who has dealt with these topics personally, I think Emma has completely handled them with delicate and beautiful outcomes. The Movie Version is a four-star read – and a must read. 


Rating 


Have you read The Movie Version?


What did you think?


Let me know in the comments or on twitter @LittleMemoirs!


happy reading!

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